AFRICA NEWS
Namibia’s Ohorongo Cement
officially inaugurated its 5MW solar
photovoltaic plant at the company’s
head office near Otavi, Otjozondjuba
region, Namibia. The Minister of
Mines and Energy, Tom Alweendo,
delivered the keynote address.
The minister said solar power
has grown exponentially in Namibia
since the inception of the Renewable
Energy Feed-In Tariff Programme
in 2014; so much so that its
contribution to the grid has resulted
in further studies by NamPower
and the Electricity Control Board
(ECB) to consider the addition of
extra PV generation to the grid
without substantial damage to the
network. He encouraged investors
and developers to follow Ohorongo’s
example, according to the Namibia
Economist.
The China Development Bank (CDB)
has signed an agreement with the African
Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to
provide a USD500-million facility to the latter.
The facility is expected to enable the
African trade finance bank to support trade,
enabling infrastructure projects across the
continent.
The facility will also be used to support
Afreximbank’s trade finance intermediaries
to provide medium- to long-term financing
for sub-projects in various sectors, including
energy, telecommunication, transportation,
agriculture, medical, industrial park, or any
related trade finance transactions. The facility
carries a 10-year tenure.
Vice chairman and president of CDB, Zheng
Zhijie Liu, and president of Afreximbank,
Professor Benedict Oramah, signed the facility
agreement on behalf of the two institutions
during a ceremony held on the sidelines of the
4th Investing in Africa Forum, in Changsha.
Linde Materials Handling South Africa (LMHSA)
sales director, Deon Klerck, says a recent training
initiative was aimed at the company’s sales
force, who underwent intensive training from
two of the German company’s overseas training
professionals. “To have a substantial advantage
in today’s marketplace, we have to give the
right advice — quickly and in a manner that our
customers understand all the requirements to
make a successful purchase.
“That is why this training was geared to help
our sales professionals understand different
industries and market types, as well as storage
www.plantonline.co.za
and warehousing practicalities and a host of
intricacies to further build upon their knowledge
base. Through our overseas trainers, we also want
to expose them to worldwide best practices and
solutions that may be applied locally as well.
“The course comprehensively covered
matching warehousing requirements to different
forklift ranges, from very narrow aisle trucks
to order pickers, reach trucks, stackers, and
even powered pallet trucks. It also examined
appropriate uses for reach trucks, stackers, and
other types, to ensure the right selections can be
made for each new customer,” he says.
Linde forklift training
Linde Materials Handling South Africa is
investing heavily in staff training to ensure
customers get the best advice possible
when buying forklifts.
NOVEMBER 2018
5